The Two Million Minutes Blog

NPR Commentator on Kids Sports

NPR commentator Frank DeFord observes that US society has elevated the intensity of competition in children's sports to an unprecedented level, perhaps even an unhealthy level.

And he notes that when teens spend so much time on athletics, something has to give -- like academic achievement.

Congressman Bart Gordon

Tennessee Congressman Bart Gordon is the Chairman and ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Science and Technology.

On March 12th, Bill Gates testified before this Committee on the risks America faces as its level of math and science education falls further behind  other nations.

Congressman Gordon has been a leader on this topic for some time and agreed to participate in the making of Two Million Minutes.

Here are some of his thoughts on the subject.

Congressman Gordon on High Value Jobs Moving Overseas

Congressman Gordon on Need for More Highly Trained Teachers

Note from a Chinese American on Viewing Two Million Minutes

Dear Mr. Compton,                                                             March 18, 2008

     I just want you to know how much I enjoyed your Q&A Interview program on CSPAN Sunday evening (March 9, 2008).  The first thing I did next morning was to order  a documentary DVD from your web site.

     I am a Chinese, came to this country 30 years ago, worked proudly for one of the big 3 auto companies for many years  and retired recently.

As an elementary school pupil in 1950s back in China, I was already taught by our teachers and parents  to set up our future career goals (i.e. to be a medical doctor, an engineer, a mathematician, a professor....). As soon as I entered middle school, I was taught by our school principal  "One will have no fear to step in  the world if he masters mathematics, physics and chemistry."

Your interview on CSPAN provides the viewers with a very objective and honest fact, which is like a vivid picture that reflects my school years as I was young.

During my early years in this country, I worked as a teaching assistant for the Math department of the university that I attended. Through my work, I was shocked by the fact how poor the math knowledge some of my freshman students had. I had to teach them the topics that I had already learned at my early stage in middle school. I also observed quite number of undergraduate  students had not decided  their major/minor when they reached their junior or senior years. 

As time went by, to my great surprise, I started to see  the second generation of my relatives and friends  (who were born and raised in this country) are falling into the same pattern. They do not  have  interest in math & science in high schools, spending large majority of their after-school time to play  various sports and participate in other school activities,  with their major undetermined when they reached junior/senior college years, graduating with majors in  communication,  politics, social work.

I frequently encouraged them to set higher career goal when they were young, I suggested  their parents to reduce their children's after-school activities, .... To my great surprise, most of them just ignored my advice and  told me to leave their children alone because they are Americans!

The reason  that I am sharing those stories with you is I believe your "2 Million Minutes" documentary film has very much echoed my concerns towards the future of my relatives and friends, towards today's  education system, towards today's  social &  family value,  structure and responsibilities, ....towards the future of this great country.

It will take at least  one generation's dedicated effort in order to catch up with the Chinese and Indians --  if we all act right now.

Two days ago, I viewed  the DVD of  "Two Million Minutes"  as soon as it arrived. The film reconnects me  to my early school years back in Shanghai several decades ago. The film states the facts, makes a fair comparison  of 6 students across 3 countries and leaves the viewers with questions to think.  It is a good film. You and your people really did a good job.

Even though this is a documentary film that faithfully recorded the facts, I still feel some people  will still choose not to believe or to deny the facts presented by this film. There might be a few reasons for such self-denial:

a)  the old-fashioned "pride" that  believes we are always number one in every area in the world almost forever;

b) certain degree of  bitter sentiment towards China and India where we export more and more of our high tech and manufacturing jobs and import more and more goods and services not mentioning China and India is far, far away from us;

c) people's unwillingness to wake up and to make an effort to change themselves. 

As a result, I believe this documentary film will be accepted very well  only by those who have succeeded with  their high education and career,  will be ignored by majority of American people who have been happy with what they have today  and  will be  denied/ rejected by some of  our educators at different levels because “American education system is always number one” in their eyes.

Until  this country faces a real crisis and/or senses a real urgency (God forbid) change will not take place with current  education system. This means job out-sourcing will continue, more and more well-educated professionals will leave for other countries for better paying jobs, our dollar will get weaker and weaker, our federal and trade deficit will continue to grow rapidly, our living standard will come down, our social security, pension and health benefits system will be threatened  .... Any unexpected  of geo-political condition  can quickly and easily further weaken this great country.

Your film “Two Million Minutes”needs to be seen by high school students everywhere around the world.  When people talk about the word of education, a lot people will like to add an equal sign to it (i.e. education =  money). We have been seeing the rise of our school tax year after year,  different levels of government have been committing  more and more resources to their school system every year, yet we do not see the direct, proportional  relationship between increasing school spending and  improving education quality.  Does there exist any other low cost alternative to this problem ? Yes, there is one. Please read on.

 
One of my nephews who came to this country from Hong Kong when he was 12 years old.  He finished his  elementary and middle school from a private Catholic school  in Detroit  and was admitted into a  Jesuit's all boy's high school, again in inner city of Detroit. That school does not have fancy building, football field, indoor swimming pool, tennis court, ... but it does have extremely dedicated educators  and  rigid education guidelines.

My nephew spent his 4 years (two million minutes) with that school. He did not watch TV too often, did not date. Basketball was the only sport he occasionally played. During most of his 4 years school life, he stayed up till midnight to do his school work. When he reached his senior year, he was accepted by University of Michigan’s medical school   inter-flex program (i.e. a seven years' program, 3 years' undergraduate, 4 years' medical school). This program accepted only 40 students across the country that time. 

That year,  99% of his fellow classmates were admitted into universities at their choices, quite a few of which were those prestigious schools on east and west coast. Today, my nephew has been a very successful doctor, a director for one of our nation’s large HMO network.

The point I try to make here is the key to our education success does not need big budget, fancy school building,  large football field, indoor swimming pool, tennis court .... What it really needs is a group of dedicated educators  who are willing and able to teach our students  with goal and pride, motivated students who are  willing to learn  and to challenge the current education system and  their  loving-care parents who are willing to spend those critical "Two Million Minutes" with their children for the sake of their future and the future of this great country. 

Thanks again for a film well done! Let’s hope more and more people will be inspired by your film and take action to improve our education system.

Yours truly,

Mr. Shen

P.S.   Let me conclude this letter with the following real story and it does mean a lot to everyone in this country who has any urgency for  our  educational issue.

A few years before my retirement, I had one of my Indian engineers  tell me  the following “As I was a kid  and did not behave  well during meal time, my parents used to tell  me to finish my meal  quick otherwise those hungry Chinese would come to take away my meal. Now I am telling my daughter to do her homework well otherwise her  fellow Indians back home will take her future job away.”

This  is a true story and it is a vivid picture that  has always been reflecting in my mind  and it can be true if one still does not wake up.

Bill Gates Testifies on Education Needs to Congress

WASHINGTON — March 12, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates testified before the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology on the future of innovation and U.S. competitiveness.

At a hearing to commemorate the committee’s 50th anniversary, Gates' focused on issues of U.S. competitiveness, including education, the need for immigration reform to allow highly skilled workers to remain in the U.S, and the need to continue to invest in basic research.

Here are a few highlights of his speech:

“I know we all want the United States to continue to be the world’s center for innovation. But our position as the global leader in innovation is at risk."

"It starts with education. Today, graduation rates for our high school students and their level of achievement in math and science rank at the bottom among industrialized nations."

"If the problem with high schools is one of quality, the issues at our universities is quantity. Our higher education system doesn't produce enough top scientists and engineers to meet the needs of the U.S. economy."

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we are adding over 100,000 new computer-related jobs each year. But only 15,000 students earned bachelor's degrees in computer science and engineering in 2006 and that number continues to drop."

"As bad as the disparity between supply and demand looks, these numbers understate the severity of the problem. Today, our university computer science and engineering programs include large numbers of foreign students. In fact the science and engineering indicators report showed that 59 percent of doctoral degrees and 43 percent of all higher ed degrees in engineering and computer science are awarded to temporary residents.

Mr. Gates complete testimony can be read here

Student Stress - US vs China & India

One of the most common objections I hear from US audiences about the Indian and Chinese emphasis on study during the two million minutes of high school is how much "stress" and "pressure" Indian and Chinese parents put on their children.

There is no doubt students in those countries feel parental, peer and community pressure to set high academic goals and to perform at a high level intellectually.

But I think as Americans we should be a bit cautious about throwing the "stress stones" without examining where we put pressure on our teens. In our glass house, athletic achievement is the pressure point for high school students - peer pressure to make the team, parental pressure to earn the scholarship and community pressure for athletic recognition.

The New York Times article "College Athletic Scholarships:Expectations Lose Out to Reality"
(Monday 3-10-08) offers insight into the stress and pressure Americans put on high school students and where a large portion of US teens' Two Million Minutes are spent.

More than 6.4 million US high school students participate in competitive high school sports. Today, to play on the football, basketball, baseball, track, hockey and other sports teams requires a very high level of effort, with almost year round training and practice - an enormous commitment of time and of money - the school's money for facilities and coaches; the parents money for outside coaches, camps and travel to competitive events.

As the article details, many parents and students justify the time, effort and expense with the expectation that a lucrative college scholarship is waiting for the student at the end of high school.

The sad reality is only a tiny fraction of high school athletes receive a college scholarship - about 1 out of every 90 athletes - and often the scholarship money is dwarfed by the money parents invested in the student's athletic career.

One student discussed in the article was Pat Taylor, who started playing soccer at 4, but didn't earn a scholarship. "...if I had it to do over, I would have skipped a practice every now and then to go to a concert or a movie with my friends. I missed out on a lot of things for soccer. I wish I could have some of that time back.”

Indian and Chinese parents are generally baffled by our emphasis on athletic achievement.  In their countries this time is spent on study and academic effort that leads to college and to a well-paying career.

Several Indian parents have remarked to me that they read with astonishment about the injuries US high school athletes suffer. "Mr. Compton, every year we read of 2-3 US boys dying of heat stroke during summer football practices. Why do American parents put such stress on sports to the point they kill their children."

I had no adequate response.

I am in no way saying we should do away with high school athletics, my daughters both play high school sports and they benefit from the exercise, commitment and teamwork that comes from athletics. I do advocate, however, that the portion of each student's two million minutes in high school that are devoted to sports should be in proportion to their benefit - both short term and lifetime - and should be secondary to the time and effort spent on academics. A smarter child is always a winner in the long term.

Indiana Governor Elevates Math & Science Recognition

SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE 

Mar 8, 2008 Editorial

A high-five for high school math, science

Indiana does a good job of honoring the achievements of its young women and men -- both their athletic and their academic achievements.

It's true that fans might get more fired up over a three-point shot from center court or a perfect pass to the end zone than they do a face-off in the Academic Super Bowl. Still, there is recognition in the Hoosier state for all types of achievement.

It is fitting that Gov. Mitch Daniels picked March, a month of sports madness, to announce establishment of the Hoosier High School Math and Science Awards. From this year hence, just as some worthy young Indiana athletes will be named Miss Basketball and Mr. Basketball, two Hoosier high school scholars will claim the titles of Mr. or Miss Math and Mr. or Miss Science.

Whoever the winners are, they will know that they were measured against every other high-achieving math or science student in Indiana and found to be deserving.All Indiana high school students are eligible to apply for the award. School teachers or administrators may nominate students, also. The deadline for turning in applications is April 4. Applications are available online from https://secure.in.gov/apps/mathscienceawards/. Winners will be chosen by a committee of math and science teachers, curriculum experts from the Indiana Department of Education and the governor's office.

Recognition of performance is reason enough to honor academic superstars. But there is method to this bit of March math and science madness. It is in Indiana's long-term economic interests for young people to develop strong, competitive math and science skills. Encouragement ought to come from every quarter, including the state administration.

This is a good shot -- as good as a three-pointer from center court.

Indian Education - Much More Than Math and Science

My one regret in making the documentary Two Million Minutes was that we did not film more of the other classes the students take, so that Americans could see the high level of achievement in literature, art, history, geography, civics, economics, etc.

Here is a brief video of Apoorva in her senior year English literature class discussing Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. It gives you just a sample of type of classroom discussion typical in the more qualitative courses.

Am I just imagining a trend here?

In one week the Wall Street Journal has published two fascinating articles about Math & Science education:

Study Finds Sharp Math, Science Skills Help Expand Economy

By SARA MURRAY
March 3, 2008; Page A2

Increased years of education boost economic growth -- but only if students' cognitive skills, as measured by math and science tests, are improved as a result, a new study says.

The study, released in this spring's issue of Education Next, an education-policy journal, concluded that if the U.S. performed on par with the world's leaders in science and math, it would add about two-thirds of a percentage point to the gross domestic product, or the total value of goods and services produced in a nation, every year.... MORE

Education Panel  Lays Out Truce  In Math Wars

Effort to Fix 'Broken' System Sets Targets for Each Grade, Avoids Taking Sides on Method

By JOHN HECHINGER
March 5, 2008; Page D1

A presidential panel, warning that a "broken" system of mathematics education threatens U.S. pre-eminence, says it has found the fix: A laserlike focus on the essentials... MORE